Head Banging Theory

Well, it happened. I missed last month. Mea Culpa. To say I've been busy is really a cop out because everybody's busy all the time. So I won't say it. Even if it's true.

Banging my head against the wall began hurting a while ago and I decided to stop. So, I reached out to an advisor concerning literary representation and the future of my novel, The Girl Who Was Allergic to the Cold.

If you're like me you like to do things on your own. It's why I run outside instead of on a treadmill in the gym. But I looked at the volume of information out there for getting an agent, it's impossible to get an agent, publishing, getting published, the publishing industry is dying, the publishing industry is booming...oy! and I threw up my hands. How long would it take to sort this all out?

They say time is money. To an extent I believe that. Time is valuable -- that I completely believe. Time waits for no man, well, duh! Being a man who values the value of time I sought an expert who already did the sorting out. Let me tell you, what a relief. Is it cheap? Of course not. But I go back to the value of time thing.

After a couple consults my advisor sent me his extensive list of agents for which my novel is a fit. It was a bunch. He also helped me with my pitch which was the holy grail as far as I was concerned. Then, the hard part came.

With my newly minted "query" letter electronically in my hand and a list of more than one hundred fifty agents, I got to work. It's interesting how varied the requests for submission are. Some just want queries, some want the whole manuscript, though that seems rare. The most common is query, synopsis and first ten. It may sound funny but I got pretty good at recognizing where my first ten ended.

It took me three pretty long days to get to them all. If any of you out there are agents I queried, I really do think you're special. Trust me. Everybody else is my second choice. Anyway, (and I do mean anyway since there's NO SUCH WORD AS ANYWAYS) it was tedious time consuming work, but oh so necessary. When I finished there was a wash of relief spilling over my shoulders. Now, the wait.

I'm used to waiting. As an actor or musician or any kind of "artist" waiting is part of the game. Audition, wait. Submit, wait. Inquire, wait. So when my advisor said I would have to wait for responses I wasn't surprised. Interestingly enough by the middle of that third day I already had nine rejections.

It seems to me literary rejection is different than acting rejection. After an audition I'm bubbling with hope, waiting for a call back or, better yet, a booking. Then a day goes by, and another and that winnowing of hope siphons away and takes me all the way to, "Oh well. Maybe I didn't have the look." But literary agents send nice emails like "Sounds interesting but I'm backing off taking new clients," or "Not right for me, but you've got a lot going on. I'm sure you'll find someone," stuff like that.

The fact that I'm getting responses at all is a kind of victory. Acting is usually crickets but literary seems to have a more congenial sense. At this point I'll take congenial. As I told my advisor, "You know what this means? I'm in the game."

If all goes contrary to plan I'll follow up in six weeks or so. Just in case. To most. Unless they said "consider it a pass" if I haven't heard by then. Ah, the waiting.

I'm half way through the sequel (of an anticipated trilogy) to The Girl Who Was Allergic to the Cold called The Girl Who Escaped the Cold. I'll let you know how that goes. I'll also keep you posted on what comes of my agent search/publishing search. Fingers crossed, crosses fingered and prayers all around.

Be blessed as we head into my favorite time of year, Thanksgiving, Christmas and the whole holiday season.